It’s Official: Fox Picks Up ‘Murder Police’ Animated Series

Fox has announced officially the pickup to series of animated comedy Murder Police, from former Family Guy executive producer/co-showrunner David Goodman and Jason Ruiz. This marks Fox’s first animated series order in more than two years — since the October 2010 pickup of Jonah Hill’s Allen Gregory for 7 episodes (with Goodman as executive producer/showrunner), and Napoleon Dynamite for 6.

Set to premiere next season, Murder Police follows a dedicated but inept detective and his colleagues — some perverted, some corrupt, some just plain lazy — in a twisted city precinct. “David and Jason came to us with a really fresh take on law enforcement that we’ve never seen before,” said Fox’s entertainment chairman Kevin Reilly. “With Murder Police, these guys are taking a staple genre of television — the cop show– and turning it on its head by pushing the warped comedic boundaries that only animation can offer.”

Manuel Sanchez (voiced by Ruiz) aspires to be a good cop, but his efforts to solve crimes are constantly put in jeopardy by his own clumsiness and the incompetence of his fellow detectives, including his partner, Tommy Margaretti (Will Sasso), a tough, rule-breaking “bad cop” who can’t interrogate a suspect without beating him up. The comedy’s voice cast also includes Chi McBride, Horatio Sanz, Penny Marshall, Peter Atencio and Justina Machado. Goodman serves as executive producer and Ruiz is co-executive producer. The series is produced at Bento Box Animation for 20th Century Fox Television.